Systems and methods for grouping client devices for uplink multi-user transmission are provided. Client device groups may be determined based on at least one of traffic compatibility/similarity, client device class compatibility/similarity, and uplink pathloss similarity. A target received signal strength measured by an AP with which client devices in the client device groups communicate and an appropriate modulation coding scheme rate to be used by the client devices may be determined and set for the client devices. The modulation coding scheme rate can be adjusted based on feedback regarding successful data packet reception at the AP from each of the client devices.